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We might soon learn more about the controversial U.S. government
surveillance scandal that has privacy
advocates, news organizations, politicians and others up in arms.

Earlier this month, former technical contractor for the National
Security Agency and ex-CIA employee Edward Snowden made public
classified information that the U.S. government has had "direct
access" to the servers of tech
giants including Apple, Facebook, Google and Microsoft. Under a
program called PRISM, Snowden claims the U.S. government has been
collecting data from these companies -- such as user photos,
emails and other documents -- to spy on foreign targets, and
potentially American citizens as well.

Companies including Apple, Facebook and Microsoft have denied
knowledge of PRISM and that they granted the government direct
access to their servers. The companies have, however, released
statements indicating that they have each received thousands of
requests for customer information from U.S. intelligence
agencies.

In a live Q+A with U.K.'s The Guardian newspaper,
Snowden said that a clearer picture of how the NSA has direct access to this type
of information "is coming." He also touched on why he sought
asylum in Hong Kong and on the tech companies' denials of
involvement in the PRISM program.

What 'direct access' means: "More detail on
how direct NSA's accesses are is coming, but in general, the
reality is this: if an NSA, FBI, CIA, DIA, etc analyst has access
to query raw SIGINT databases, they can enter and get results for
anything they want. Phone number, email, user id, cell phone
handset id (IMEI), and so on - it's all the same. The
restrictions against this are policy based, not technically
based, and can change at any time."

The denials from companies like Facebook and
Google: "Their denials went through several
revisions as it become more and more clear they were misleading
and included identical, specific language across companies. As a
result of these disclosures and the clout of these companies,
we're finally beginning to see more transparency and better
details about these programs for the first time since their
inception.

They are legally compelled to comply and maintain their silence
in regard to specifics of the program, but that does not comply
them from ethical obligation. If for example Facebook, Google,
Microsoft, and Apple refused to provide this cooperation with the
Intelligence Community, what do you think the government would
do? Shut them down?"

Why he escaped to Hong Kong: "Leaving the
US was an incredible risk, as NSA employees must declare their
foreign travel 30 days in advance and are monitored. There was a
distinct possibility I would be interdicted en route, so I had to
travel with no advance booking to a country with the cultural and
legal framework to allow me to work without being immediately
detained. Hong Kong provided that. Iceland could be pushed
harder, quicker, before the public could have a chance to make
their feelings known, and I would not put that past the current
US administration."

The growing speculation that he has or will provide
classified U.S. information to the Chinese in exchange for
asylum: "No. I have had no contact with the Chinese
government. Just like with the Guardian and the
Washington Post, I only work with journalists."

On the best way to protect one's personal
data: "Encryption works. Properly implemented
strong crypto systems are one of the few things that you can rely
on. Unfortunately, endpoint security is so terrifically weak that
NSA can frequently find ways around it."